Suzuki to Invest $780 Million in Indonesia to Boost Engine, Car Capacity

By Anna Mukai -
Jan 4, 2012

Suzuki Motor Corp. (7269), the third-biggest
carmaker in Indonesia, will spend 60 billion yen ($780 million)
to increase capacity in the Southeast Asian nation, including
setting up another factory to build engines.

The new plant will help triple engine-making capacity in
Indonesia, Suzuki said in an e-mailed statement today. The
investment includes 40 billion yen on the engine plant to open
in 2014 with the rest spent on auto assembly lines, Hideki
Taguchi, a company spokesman, said by telephone. He said the
timeframe for the total investment hasn’t been decided.

Suzuki, which has one plant for automobiles and another for
motorbikes in Indonesia, plans to increase auto output capacity
25 percent to 100,000 units a year and to start producing seven-
seat vehicles in Indonesia from this spring. In September,
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the biggest carmaker in Asia, said it
planned to spend 26.3 billion yen to build a second factory in
Indonesia.

Suzuki shares gained as much as 3.9 percent, the most
intraday since Sept. 20, in Tokyo trading. They were up 3
percent to 1,639 yen as of 1:15 p.m.